Radeon RX 590 vs GeForce GTX 970M SLI

Place in the ranking	229	230
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	24.98
Power efficiency	10.34	9.57
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2017)	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code name	no data	Polaris 30
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)	15 November 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$279

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2560	2304
Core clock speed	924 MHz	1469 MHz
Boost clock speed	1038 MHz	1545 MHz
Number of transistors	2x 5200 Million	5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	162 Watt	175 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	222.5
Floating-point processing power	no data	7.119 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	32
TMUs	no data	144

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	no data	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	no data	241 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	1x 8-pin
SLI options	+	-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	2x 6 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	2x 192 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	5000 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	256.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	no data	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	-	+

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

FreeSync	-	+
Optimus	+	-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12_1	12 (12_0)
Shader Model	no data	6.4
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	2.0
Vulkan	-	1.2.131
CUDA	+	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 970M SLI 24.40
+0%

RX 590 24.39

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 970M SLI 18870

RX 590 23363
+23.8%

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 970M SLI 36119

RX 590 48454
+34.2%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

GTX 970M SLI 14760

RX 590 16814
+13.9%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 970M SLI 96944
+11.7%

RX 590 86825

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 970M SLI 256573

RX 590 397712
+55%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	86 −17.4%	101 +17.4%
1440p	55−60 −5.5%	58 +5.5%
4K	40 +14.3%	35 −14.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	2.76
1440p	no data	4.81
4K	no data	7.97

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

40−45

+0%

40−45

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 −22.6%	65 +22.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −110%	86 +110%
Battlefield 5	80−85 −70%	136 +70%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 −38%	69 +38%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	55−60 −60.7%	90 +60.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 −40.6%	90 +40.6%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 −91.6%	274 +91.6%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 −166%	301 +166%
Metro Exodus	80−85 −47.6%	124 +47.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	60−65 −42.2%	91 +42.2%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 −70.7%	140 +70.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 −167%	272 +167%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 −113%	113 +113%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −78%	73 +78%
Battlefield 5	80−85 −52.5%	122 +52.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 −28%	64 +28%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	55−60 −32.1%	74 +32.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 −10.9%	71 +10.9%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 −81.1%	259 +81.1%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 −154%	287 +154%
Metro Exodus	80−85 −15.5%	97 +15.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	60−65 −15.6%	74 +15.6%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 −39%	114 +39%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	136 +157%	50−55 −157%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 −156%	261 +156%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	50−55 +35.9%	39 −35.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −51.2%	62 +51.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +8.7%	46 −8.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +1.8%	55 −1.8%
Forza Horizon 4	140−150 +57.1%	91 −57.1%
Hitman 3	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 +17.7%	96 −17.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 −22%	100 +22%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	48 −6.3%	51 +6.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	100−110 +191%	35 −191%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

60−65

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −129%	55 +129%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 −35.7%	38 +35.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Hitman 3	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 −44%	72 +44%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −26.1%	58 +26.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −32.1%	70 +32.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	130−140 −47.1%	203 +47.1%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

−4.9%

43
+4.9%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 −62.5%	39 +62.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	18−20 −36.8%	26 +36.8%
Hitman 3	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 +119%	57 −119%
Metro Exodus	27−30 −33.3%	36 +33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	28 −14.3%	32 +14.3%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14−16 −26.7%	19 +26.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	12−14 −223%	42 +223%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	14−16 −42.9%	20 +42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 +0%	6−7 +0%
Far Cry 5	12−14 −30.8%	17 +30.8%
Forza Horizon 4	30−35 −39.4%	46 +39.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	27−30 −37.9%	40 +37.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	10−12 −18.2%	13 +18.2%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

21−24

−42.9%

30
+42.9%

This is how GTX 970M SLI and RX 590 compete in popular games:

RX 590 is 17% faster in 1080p
RX 590 is 5% faster in 1440p
GTX 970M SLI is 14% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 970M SLI is 191% faster.
in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 590 is 223% faster.

All in all, in popular games: